


Broken City

by EagleByte



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Action, Gen, Humor, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-04-24 15:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19176445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EagleByte/pseuds/EagleByte
Summary: Meet Josiah Douglass. His life couldn't be any more perfect, as he has a girlfriend and a great source of income. But one day, when the Octarians invade Inkopolis, taking it over, Josiah's life is turned upside-down. With nothing left to lose, Josiah launches a coup, hoping to overthrow the leaders and return his life to normal. Rated T for mild sexual content and swearing. A rewrite of an original work on fanfiction.net originally titled "Saviors from Below."





	1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**2019, PF**

 

“That was awesome!” shouted a 15 year old Octoling girl exiting the Turf War lobby in Inkopolis Square. She had pink tentacles tied back into a ponytail. Her pale skin was freckled beyond compare, and her emerald green eyes shone through her purple glasses. She wore a Splash Mob Pink Easy-Stripe shirt, hung over her slender frame, a pair of generic khaki shorts donned over her lower half. A pair of Custom Trail Boots from Inkline finished her look off.

An Inkling boy walking beside her chuckled, roughly a head taller than her, also 15. His green tentacles were combed over to the left, his skin slightly darker than hers, but not by a lot. He smiled at her, looking over at her with his blue-green eyes. His gear consisted of a common SquidForce Black Anchor Tee, normal Inkling shorts for Turf Wars, and a pair of Zink Black Seahorses. Around his neck hung a pair of Forge Squidlife Headphones.

“Someone’s excited,” he said.

“Of course I am!” the girl replied enthusiastically. “You and Kevin were absolutely killing it out there! The way you were all like, 'kapow!' And then the other guy was like, 'aah!' And you were all like 'pow pow' and took him out, oh, what a show! I think you two alone would be enough to take down Team Wizard!”

“Well, let’s hope so, I’m trying to get my streak back up after losing Fam vs. Friend.”

“Eh, you’ll be fine. And even if you guys lose, there’s always next Splatfest and you can start your streak over!”

“Heh, true.”

The two walked over to Crusty Sean’s food truck, hungry for a snack. The Square itself was crowded like normal, a typical Splatfest crowd out and about, most dancing to the music blasting through the speakers. The boy and girl pushed their way through the crowd. Despite living in Inkopolis for over a year now, they were still uncomfortable around large crowds, having lived in Calamari County for most of their lives. The crowded city block was a far cry from the peaceful summer nights back in the County, and the effect it gave on the two showed, as they looked quite out of place.

Shortly, they were standing in the line for the food truck. Quite a few Inklings were in line already, so they had a bit of a wait.

“What are you gonna get?” the boy asked, glancing up at the menu.

The girl thought for a moment. “Uhm...I’m thinking...a Deep-fried Shwaffle.”

The boy gave a little start. “You sure? I thought you were trying to eat healthy.”

She laughed and gave him a playful punch. “It’s Splatfest.”

“Your point?”  
“Isn’t it always you that’s telling me to let loose a bit?”

“Well-”

“There, you admitted it. I’m getting a shwaffle.”

He rolled his eyes. “Just don’t eat too much, you’re cuter when you’re skinny.”

His comment caught her off guard. “W-huh?”

He laughed at her surprise. “I’m serious about your looks, but I'm joking about you eating healthy, get whatever you want. You _do_ need to let loose sometimes, so here’s your chance.”

“Sometimes I really want to slap you, Josiah.”

“Come on, I said I was just kidding.”

“What’ll it be, squiddo?” they heard Sean say. Looking up, they realized it was their turn to order.

“I’ll take a Deep-fried Shwaffle,” the girl said.

Sean raised an eyebrow. “You sure, Aileen?” he asked, having known the two for a little while. “You tend to not eat my food, you say it’s ‘too oily.’”

“Sean, it’s Splatfest,” Aileen defended. “Besides, I’m letting loose, like Josiah’s been telling me.”

Sean shrugged. “One Deep-fried Shwaffle for you then.” He turned to Josiah. “How about you?”  
“Just a Tentacola for now,” he replied, putting some credits on the counter.

“Comin’ right up!” Sean turned around and began cooking his food up. “So how are you two doing?”

“Not bad,” Josiah replied. “Relationship’s going well, right, Aileen?”  
“You bet!” she said.

Sean turned back around, food in hand. “Glad to hear it." He handed the food to them. “Enjoy!”

“Thanks, Sean,” Aileen thanked him, walking towards a table, Josiah beside her. Sitting down, Aileen dove into her food.

“Mmm, this is so good!” she said, relishing the flavor. “I can see why you like it so much.”

Josiah laughed, pointing to his left cheek. “You’ve got a little something here.”

She wiped a small bit of food off her face. “It’s a bit messy too, though…”

“That it is.” He took a sip of his drink, looking around the Square. “Sure is crowded, isn’t it?”

“Oh yeah. Lots of people out tonight.”

“Kinda makes you miss the Plaza. Wasn’t quite as crowded as this, felt more open.”

“Yeah, too bad they shut that place down. I hear some people go there still, just not a whole lot.”

“I wouldn’t mind going there soon just to see how few go anymore.”

“We could do that tomorrow.”

“Not a bad idea.”

“Oi!” an accented male voice cried out from the crowd, cutting their conversation up. The two looked over and saw a blue Inkling walking towards them, skin tan and eyes chocolate. He wore a Toni Kensa Negative Longcuff Sweater, the sleeves rolled up to elbow length. On his feet were a pair of Moist Ghillie Boots by Forge, and his headgear was a Firefin Black FishFry Bandana. His tentacles were messy, hanging down in his face. From the northern areas of the continent, he had some strange accent that was slightly unusual for Inkopolis.

“I know you!” he said jokingly, sitting down.

“And I know you, too!” Josiah replied, laughing. “What’s up, Kevin?”

“Eh, lost that last match after ya left. Not as great without ya, I guess.”

“Ha, well, glad to hear that. Anyways, what brings you over here?”

“Kinda done for the night. Figured I might as well come chill with you guys.”

“We weren’t doing much, just enjoying a snack.”

Kevin shrugged. “Whatever, really. I was actually thinking of heading back to my flat for a little while, get a nap in before the results.”

“Hey, that’s not a bad idea,” Aileen said, wiping her greasy hands on her shirt. “I’m finished with this, so you wanna head back, Josiah? Get a bit of a nap?”

“Sure, why not?” Josiah replied, standing up. “I think I’ve had enough turfing for one night anyways.”

Aileen jumped up herself, throwing away the trash from her snack. “Alright, let’s go then.”

Josiah smiled and took her hand, looking back at Kevin. “See ya around, then.”

“Yeah, cheers!” Kevin waved back and also got up, walking off in a different direction.

The two began their walk out of the Square, expertly weaving through the crowd, heading to the nearest Inkopolis Underground station. After their initial stay in Flounder Heights upon moving into the city, they had saved up enough credits from the Turf Wars to buy a house. Rather than blowing it all and getting one each, which really would’ve been a bad move, they pooled the cash together and bought one to share. It was a ways out into the suburbs, however, so rather than walking like a few of their friends, they had to take the Underground.

As they stood on the train platform, Aileen decided to return to the previous conversation. “Crazy to think we’ve been here two years now,” she said.

Josiah thought for a moment. “Huh, yeah, you’re right. Two years…”

“Guess that means we’ve had fun.”

"Makes sense," he replied. At that moment, the train smoothly slid into the station and the two boarded it. It then quickly rode out of the station. After a 30 minute ride, the two disembarked, walking out of the station towards their house. The neighborhood was quite dark, illuminated only by a street lamp here and there, along with a couple houses' front porch light. Aileen and Josiah were the only two out at that late of an hour, everybody else either asleep or in the Square.

Josiah took a deep breath. "It's so calm here," he said, taking the quiet views in.

"So nice," Aileen agreed.

"Almost like the County out here, huh?"

She nodded. "Almost."

"Do you...ever think we'll go back?"

Aileen thought for a moment. "I'm not sure. Considering the memories that are brought up going back and all, I don't think I could handle that. Remember our discussion on the train ride in from the County?"

"I think so...where we looked at a few problems?"

"Yeah, that. I don't think I could go back without a mental breakdown."

"Let's not find out then," Josiah said as they turned onto their street. "Damn house, being so far out. Why don't we have bikes?"

"Good question. Wasn't it you that wanted to spend the budget on other things, like entertainment?"

"Hey, a man needs his games."

She laughed. "Well, I'm quite certain we have enough to get a couple bikes."

"How much do you think we'd need?"

Aileen shrugged. "Anywhere between 300 and 600 credits I think."

Josiah rubbed his chin. "Think that we could work that in."

"Add that to the list of things to do tomorrow."

"So, that's visit the Plaza again and get two bikes?"

"Yup." She grabbed his waist and pulled him closer. "Although we could add in a dinner or something like that."

"Oh, like a date?"

"Mm, something like that."

He kissed the top of her head. "I don't see why not. Where were you thinking?"

"Somewhere nice, I guess."

"I'll take a look at what's good then."

The two turned up their front sidewalk, and Josiah pulled out his key, unlocking the door. He swung it open, revealing the living room, furnished with a couch and two chairs. A bookshelf sat on the wall the front door was on. Directly in front of the door was a staircase, and behind the living room was the kitchen.

Josiah and Aileen went upstairs to get themselves ready for bed. At the top of the staircase was a small bathroom, to the left was where Josiah set up the little "entertainment room," as he called it, and to the right were three bedrooms.

Josiah walked into one, and Aileen poked her head in a moment later. "Got any extra room?" she asked.

"Wait," Josiah stammered. "You want to...sleep in _my_ bed?"

"Not just alone."

"I, well, uh...okay, yeah, s-sure."

She gave him a smile as she walked over to the bed. "Uncomfortable?"

"What? Me? Nah, not at all."

"Mhmm, sure." She slipped under the covers, laying down. Noticing that Josiah simply stood there, Aileen patted the space beside her. "Come on, it's not like we're doing anything crazy." She gave him a rather serious look. "Like, seriously, I'm not ready for that."

"R-right, just...sleep." He laid down beside her, shutting the light off beside the bed. "Goodnight, Aileen."

She gave him a short kiss. "Goodnight, Josiah."

* * *

 

Josiah jolted upright at the sound of a crash. Half a second later he heard it again, followed by a few shouts outside and a couple more crashes, each one coming from different directions. He slipped out of bed, looking over and seeing that Aileen snored on, undisturbed. He sighed in relief, not wanting to wake her, and looked outside. The view made him suck in quickly in surprise.

Outside on the street was a large group of people running wildly, a mixture of Inklings and some Octolings in strange clothing. He heard the crash over and over, and upon further inspection saw that the Octolings were breaking into people's homes, exiting holding weapons. He then heard a loud crash from downstairs and a splintering noise, followed by footsteps. Quickly, he slammed the bedroom door, shoving the bookshelf to the left of it in front, barricading it.

He rushed over to the bed, aggressively shaking Aileen. "Come on, wake up, dammit!"

Aileen slowly woke up, sitting up while yawning. "Hmm, wha?"

"Come on, we need to get out of here, now." He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the bed and over to the window.

"What's going on?"

"No time to explain, quick, onto the roof." Josiah flung open the window, and just as Aileen was stepping outside onto the roof, he heard a crash at the bedroom door.

"Open up in there!" a female voice declared on the other side.

"Not on my life!" Josiah shot back, making sure Aileen was out.

Just as he began to climb out, the door was blown open, the bookshelf seemingly feather light, discarded to the side. A group of Octolings rushed in, a purple one at the front brandishing a sword rather than the typical shooter. Josiah continued his escape, crawling out the window. Just as he made it out, however, his arm was grabbed by one of the Octolings. The girl with the sword took advantage of this and brought the sword down quickly, cutting his arm off just below the elbow. He let out a cry of pain as he stumbled backwards, tumbling towards the edge of the roof.

"Josiah!" Aileen shouted, quickly grabbing his left hand as the right was now nonexistent. His tumble stopped as she held tightly, slowly sliding down with his momentum. She dug her feet into the roof, stopping their descent.

"That was close," Josiah said, his feet nearly dangling off the roof. He tried to climb up but slipped, Aileen's grip slipping as well. Off the roof he fell, hitting the ground below, knocking him unconscious and the air out of him.

Aileen rushed over to the edge. "Josiah! Speak to me!"

"He'll be fine," she heard a voice from behind her say. She spun around and saw the Octolings who entered her room standing there on the roof. The purple one approached her.

"What the hell do you want?" Aileen demanded.

"You. Oh, and his weapons."

"Why though? I haven't done anything wrong! Neither has he or any of these other Inklings here!"

The girl grabbed Aileen, picking her up by the front of her shirt. "They haven't done anything? Did you seriously just say that?"

"Y-yeah, why?"

Aileen was thrown back down. "All Octarian civilization, locked underground for 100 years with hardly any power, while the Inklings keep it all. And they've done nothing wrong?"

"Peace can be made!"

"Oh, yeah, sure, like they'd let us live in their community."

Aileen coughed. "You're standing in front of an Octoling who's lived here for two years. And they aren't accepting?"

"Have you ever been shoved around? Poked fun at? Perhaps even assaulted due to the fact that you're an Octoling?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"My point exactly."

"I think you're holding too much of a grudge. The people who made fun of me have known me for a very long time, most Inklings here are very accepting."

"You just proved it otherwise."

"Yeah, well, attacking the city doesn't really help your reputation."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

The girl growled and grabbed Aileen's arm, pulling her up and back through the window. "You'll pay for that comment."

"Why, because I speak the truth?"

"No, because you disagree with me. Truth or not has nothing to do with it."

She continued to drag Aileen outside, taking her to the street. A box truck drove up and the back doors were flung open, and the Octoling quickly cuffed Aileen and tossed her in the back. She then slammed the doors and slapped the back of the truck, it driving away into the night.

* * *

 

All radios and televisions across Inkopolis automatically turned on, the forced message being broadcasted for all to hear.

"Attention all Inklings," a rough voice said. "This is your new ruler speaking, King Octopin. Your city is now mine, your ruler has been, shall we say, disposed of? I have a few things I need to discuss with you.

"In case any of you don't remember, we Octarians have been living underground for the past 100 years, forced by you to live with barely enough power to scrape by. And if you're super ignorant, the Great Zapfish has been stolen twice within the past 5 years. That was us, attempting to stay alive. But you took it back, stole it from us. You abuse the power with your Turf Games, sucking it all for yourself and entertainment when we hardly had enough to turn on a light.

"This comes to my first new regulation under my rule. No more Turf Games. They use too much power, I cannot allow that anymore. You must understand this is for the best. Although I have taken over your city, I will not be unnecessarily cruel by any means. Rather, I shall take good care of you, although there are more regulations.

"Number two: music. The only music you are allowed to listen to is ours, Inkling music has been known to do strange things to the mind. There may be a select few that we'll announce later on, but for now, all of it shall be banned. Anybody caught with it will be arrested.

"Number three: curfew. Be in your homes by 9:00 PM, no later. Out later, there will be consequences. This cannot be that hard to follow, just be sure to keep track of time.

"Finally, number four: no weapons. Simple enough, don't have weapons in your possession. Remember that I had my army confiscate them all. Found with any, again, arrest is in order.

"Those are my conditions. Follow them and I'm quite sure we can get along well. This has been your new king, have a pleasant night."

The broadcast went dark.

 

**2 years later**

 

A lone yellow Inkling rushed down the alleyway. His clothes were rather odd, consisting of a reflective yellow vest, a pair of headphones that completely covered his ears, a pair of black boots, and a cape with the number 3 on it. His eyes were black, an unusual color, and his skin pasty white. He ducked down underneath a sewer grate, and a few moments later, a small patrol of Octolings entered the alley, searching around for the boy.

"Any sight, Nhur?" an Elite asked after looking behind a trashcan.

"No, ma'am," a purple Octoling replied, putting down a bag of trash.

The Elite kicked the trashcan she just searched. "God damn it! We were so close!"

"We'll find him eventually, ma'am," an orange Octoling said. "He couldn't have gone too far."

"Yeah, we'll get him," said another.

"We'd better," the Elite growled. "We cannot have an Agent running around."

The patrol ushered out of the alley, and the Agent below the sewer grate let out a sigh of relief. He then dove further down, traveling through the pipe, emerging in an open space.

"Ah, Agent Three, my lad," an old male voice said. Agent Three whipped around, seeing an old man staring at him, faded orange tentacles forming a goatee. He wore a green tracksuit and a pair of black headphones around his neck. "I need yer help."

"Whatever you need, Cuttlefish," Three replied.


	2. Chapter 1: Broken

 

************

**Chapter 1: Broken**

**August 2021, PF**

 

The room was dark. Snoozing in the bed was a green Inkling male, 18 years in age. The room itself wasn't too large, having a bed centered on the wall opposite the door. Directly to the left of the door was a computer desk, and on the wall to the right was a dresser and bookshelf. The wall to the left had a large window looking out onto the street below.

On the computer desk sat a smartphone which lit up and began playing music. The Inkling slowly woke up, sliding out of bed and stumbling over to the desk to shut the alarm off. The time read out 6 AM.

"Another day to fail," he grumbled to himself. "Every day, Kevin says 'we'll find her, Josiah, just you wait,' and every day, nothing." He kicked one of the legs of the desk, ignoring the pain that lanced up his foot. "It's all a waste of time! She's nowhere!"

Josiah stalked out of the room, stepping into the shower. The cold water ran down his back, chilling him quickly. Just how he liked it. He'd grown cold and hard since Aileen had been taken from him two years prior, almost becoming a bit of a sociopath. He didn't care about anybody but himself and Aileen, everybody else could drop off a cliff for all he cared, maybe even drown in salt water. 

He smiled as those dark thoughts filled his head, envisioning the Octarians falling into the ocean. Their screams echoing up to him, but he ignores them, simply watching with a savage grin on his face. That's what they deserved in his mind, and he'd glady watch them suffer just as he had. Or maybe he'd simply beat the shit out of them all. Since part of his arm had been cut off, he had gotten a prosthetic replacement made, specifically out of metal and hard plastic. That could do some real damage if he hit just right.

He was snapped out of his dark thoughts by the sound of his phone ringing in the bedroom. He groaned and shut off the water, drying off with a towel and walking in, answering the phone without checking the caller ID. "What?" he demanded sharply.

"You good, mate?" a male voice said on the other side.

He groaned. "Yes, I'm fine, Kevin. What do you need?"

"You, uh, up for searching today?"

Josiah suppressed the urge to throw his phone against the wall. "Kevin, how many times do I have to tell you, we won't find her! She's gone! I've been in denial for too long, she's not here! For all I know, she could be dead!"

"Josiah, calm down-"

"Don't 'calm down' me! I have reason to react like this, and you know it."

He heard a sigh on the other end. "Could you listen to me for a little bit, please?"

"Fine, but make it quick. I'm done hearing this bullshit of 'oh, she's somewhere, we'll find her eventually.'"

"Sitting and doing nothing accomplishes as much as us searching and finding nothing. You follow?"

"Yes, I'm not 5."

"So what's the harm of us searching? Doing nothing is going to cause you to wallow in your pain, it's better to force yourself to do something."

Josiah thought for a moment. "Okay, fine, we can search again today."

"Good. So the café in one hour, yeah?"

"Sounds good."

"Alright, cheers, mate."

"Yeah, see ya." Josiah hung up and put the phone down. He picked up a picture sitting on his desk. In the picture was a younger him, roughly 14 years old. Beside him with a large grin on her face was Aileen, 13 at the time. 

Their first Splatfest.

He gave a sad smile, running his hand over the picture. "Where did you go?" he wondered aloud. He put the picture down and got dressed, picking his phone up and walking out of the house.

* * *

An hour later, Josiah sat in a café, a coffee and a slice of cake in front of him. He took a bite of the cake, savoring the flavor. Soon, he saw a blue Inkling walk up, and gave a wave.

"Hey, Kevin," he greeted him, mouth full.

"Hey, Josiah," Kevin replied, sitting down. "Remember what I keep telling you."

Josiah rolled his eyes. "Stay optimistic, yeah, I know." He pointed at Kevin with his fork. "Have I ever told you of my past, and why I don't have much optimism right now?"

"I don't think you have."

"Well, long story short, this isn't the first time Aileen's gone missing like this. And it took me quite a long time to find her last time. She had been pretty broken, both physically and emotionally, by the time I found her. That's why my optimism is non-existent now."

"What exactly happened to her?"

"That's something she'll have to decide whether or not I can tell you, it's really personal to her. I'll tell you one thing, the ends of her tentacles are no longer naturally pink, that's all dye. Actually, most of her tentacles are now naturally white."

Kevin inched closer, fascinated. "How?"

Josiah hesitated to respond. "A jackass, that's all I'm saying. This man who promised to take care of her did in his eyes, but not the way he should have been taking care of her."

Kevin whistled. "Wow, that's rough."

"Seriously, I'm worried she's gonna have a mental breakdown some day, she was really broken when I found her again." Josiah finished up his food. "I guess we can head out then and look."

"Alright, sounds good. I ate beforehand, so I'm ready."

The two stood up and exited the café, walking down the road. "Where to first?" Josiah asked.

"I was thinking we could start on the outer edges of the city, yeah? Slowly make our way in?"

Josiah shrugged. "Okay, sure, I guess that works." He walked off to the Underground station, Kevin beside him. They entered the station and boarded a train heading to the northwest corner of the city. The train traveled at a high speed, taking them there in only 45 minutes. Upon their arrival, they stepped off the train onto an above-ground station. 

"So, the main road’s a good place to search first," Kevin said, leading Josiah out of the station. The two walked down the road, eyes peeled. A few Octarian patrols walked by, and they passed a couple on the corners of the streets, simply standing there, keeping watch. Josiah felt a rising heat in his chest as he longed for the day where they'd all pay for their cruelty. Octopin said he'd treat them well, but that was exaggerated, or his vision of treating them well was different than theirs. Power was heavily limited, jobs were difficult to get, patrols would randomly burst into homes and trash the place searching for illegal weapons and other contraband, the curfew was heavily enforced, and any form of interaction with a patrol was considered as disturbing them, even if it was a simple wave of the hand or greeting.

As they walked, the day grew later and later. They looked in alleyways, asked shop keepers if they'd seen Aileen at all, went to the local police and asked, everywhere they could look or ask they did. Eventually, it began to grow dark, and both Josiah and Kevin were tired and hungry. They stumbled into a burger restaurant for a quick meal and after ordering, sat down in a booth by the window.

"I told you we wouldn't find her," Josiah grumbled.

"Look, mate, sitting around doing nothing is just as successful as looking at this point."

Josiah slammed his fist into the table, standing up, and quite a few people looked over in his direction in surprise. "I've heard it enough! I don't give a shit about your optimism anymore, we won't find her! Ever! She's gone, Kevin! Just let it go already!"

"Josiah-"

"It's been two years, and nothing. Two fucking years, Kevin, and we haven't had any progress."

"We now know where she  _ isn't,  _ is that not progress?"

Josiah ran his hands through his tentacles. "Progress in your mind, maybe, but not mine. I want to actually find her, not know where she isn't!"

Kevin sighed. "So what, you're giving up?"

"I gave up a month in, Kevin. I scoured the hell out of the city and nothing."

"You can't just give up, can you?"

"You can't just let it go, can you?"

"Josiah, I want her back just as much as you do."

Josiah glared at him. "Was she your girlfriend? Did she mean the whole entire world to you?"

"Well, no, but-"

"You don't understand me! You never will! So stop trying to!"

"I'm not trying to understand you."

"Well, it sure seems like that." He stepped out of the booth and walked to the door. "Enjoy my burger, I'm going home."

"Josiah, wait!"

He walked out of the restaurant, ignoring Kevin's protests. He walked down the road towards the train station, tears welling up in his eyes. For two years, he searched for Aileen, hoping to put his life back somewhat. And for two years, she stayed hidden, nowhere to be found.

* * *

 

An Octoling girl walked down a hallway, donned by the typical army uniform: black leather crop-top, mini-skirt, and high-heels, a belt across her bare stomach, and a pair of black glasses, left eye glowing red. Her tentacles were pink at the very top with a soft gradient by her ears to white, and her skin was pale. She passed a few lower ranking soldiers, who saluted her, to which she returned the salute.

"Agent Marso!" she heard a voice call out from behind her. She turned around and saw a younger purple Octoling running after her.

"Yes, Private?" she responded.

"Our patrol has been ordered to take the northwestern quadrant today, ma'am. Scheduled to head out at eighteen-hundred hours."

"Oh?"

"And Commander Grell would like to talk to you in her office."

"Alright, thank you, Private."

The girl saluted. "Have a nice day, ma'am."

She returned it. "You too." She then walked down the hallway, entering a room. Sitting at a desk in the middle of the room was an orange Octoling, who looked up from her paperwork upon hearing the door open.

"Ah, Aileen, how are you today?" she greeted.

"Fine, ma'am."

The commander gave a wave of her hand. "Please, enough with the formalities, we're friends here."

Aileen sat down in a chair, relaxing. "Thanks, Shana. What did you call me here for?"

"Ah, yes, that." Shana searched through the stack of papers and pulled out a folder, handing it to Aileen. "Recently, a patrol spotted a suspicious Inkling in the northwestern quadrant."

Aileen looked through the folder, seeing the pictures taken and documentation inside. The pictures depicted a young Inkling adult, yellow tentacled, wearing a reflective vest, black boots, and a pair of headphones. On his back was a cape with the number 3 sewn into it. She knew she had seen that uniform somewhere but couldn't quite place where. 

"So my patrol is tasked to conduct a search for this Inkling?" Aileen inquired, shutting the folder.

Shana nodded. "We have reason to suspect that this Inkling is none other than Agent Three of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. If we are correct, he is the one that recaptured the Great Zapfish when we stole it the first time."

"So him being loose like this is a bad thing."

"Exactly. We’ve been hearing rumors of some activity from a sort of rebellion, and this could very well be a lead onto something bigger. If we uncover and underground operation, then we can show the rest of this city what we do to those who rebel.”

Aileen gave a slightly evil smile. “And it won’t be very pleasant, will it?”

“We have our methods.”

She stood up and shook hands with Shana. “I’ll go notify my patrol then. We’ll bring him to you, don’t you worry.”

“Knowing you, I have no need to worry.”

Aileen smiled and walked out of the office, heading back down the hallway to the barracks where her patrol currently was resting. They’d be excited at the news, as they hadn’t had any real assignments for a couple months. This would be a good refresher for them.

* * *

 

Josiah walked into the train station, hopes dashed. He scanned his card and walked to the platform, sitting down and putting his head in his hands, holding his tears back.

"Why did you have to go?" he asked aloud. "And it's your birthday, too, 18 today! A special day I should be there for! Are you even alive anymore? Will I ever see you again?"

The train arrived at the station and he got up to board it, but heard steps rapidly approaching. He recognized those steps. Gritting his teeth, he spun around and threw a punch directly into Kevin's face, earning him a few gasps of surprise from bystanders. Thankfully, he noticed, he used his left and not his right arm.

Kevin stumbled backwards holding his nose, blue ink seeping between his fingers. "What the hell, Josiah?!" he cried out.

"I said enough!" Josiah snarled, raising his fist again.

Kevin backed up. "Will you calm down, please?"

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?! You want me to calm down?! Because I can be calm, just you watch me! See?" He put on a fake smile. "Calm! Happy now?"

"No, I'm not! First, I want an apology for my nose."

"Okay, sorry, I overreacted."

"You have to mean it."

"I really am, Kevin, I-" He cut himself off as a patrol disembarking the train caught his eye. The commanding member in the group looked oddly familiar. His eyes went wide with recognition and a wide smile filled his face, tears of joy beginning to streak his cheeks. 

"Aileen!" he cried, running towards the patrol. He swept Aileen into a big hug, twirling her around as he laughed in ecstacy. "You're alive!"

Aileen looked down at him in confusion and disgust, smacking his arms away. "Get away from me, you disgusting Inkling!" she snapped, loosening his grip around her waist.

Josiah was too happy to hear her, simply tightening his hold on her. "Where have you been these two years?! I've searched everywhere for you, I've missed you so much!"

"Let. Me. Go." Aileen turned to her patrol members. "Get him off of me, somebody!"

A Twintacle fired a shot at Josiah, hitting his leg, causing him to collapse, Aileen landing on top of him. He smiled up at her as she quickly shoved him away, hopping up. She brushed her hands off and grabbed his arms, pulling him up close to her face. She then snapped her fingers and an Octoling passed her a pair of handcuffs.

Josiah looked at her in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"My job."

"Aileen-"

"You don't have the right to call me by my first name. You and no other Inkling for that matter."

Josiah started laughing. "Okay, very funny, Aileen. You can drop the joke now."

Aileen threw him up against the wall. "You think this is just a joke?"

Josiah looked even more confused. "Uh, yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

She threw him to the ground. "Contain him."

"Aileen, what's going on?" Kevin asked, running up as the younger soldiers picked Josiah up off the ground, pressing him against the train.

Aileen whipped around to view Kevin, a snarl on her face. "What do you not understand about not disturbing patrols?!"

"This isn't you, cut it out!"

"Oh, this is totally me. Kevin, you and Josiah are nothing but Inklings, more than one step down on the intelligence ladder from Octarians. Not only that, but you keep the power for yourself, abuse it all. What you remember of me has gone, I'm no longer blinded by the  stupidity radiating from you. So either take Josiah and go, or be arrested, it's your choice."

Kevin took a step back in surprise. "What did they do to you?"

"Opened my eyes to the truth. Now go."

"Not without you!"

Aileen shook her head slightly, then tackled Kevin to the ground. Josiah, seeing his friend under attack, pushed the other Octolings away, beating them over the head, then rushing over to pull Aileen off of him.

"Aileen, seriously!" he begged. "Come back to your senses already!"

"Josiah, just go, I'll be fine!" Kevin said, urging him to run away.

"Come on, Kevin, I can't just leave you!"

"Yes you can! Now go!"

Josiah hesitated for a moment, then looked around for his escape options. He saw another train entering the station and took advantage of it, jumping on as soon as the doors opened. The patrol attempted to run after him, but the crowd pushed back, and the doors slid shut, allowing Josiah's escape to be possible. The train rode out of the station towards Josiah's home, him safe inside.

Josiah walked over to the back car, slumping down in a seat. He smiled to himself in joy. "She's alive," he told himself. "Something's not right in her head but she's alive!" He laughed with pure excitement, ready to bring her home.

* * *

 

Josiah walked down the road to his house, head swimming with thoughts. Most were about how he was to get Aileen home, but the others were about Kevin. He knew he could have been nicer to him, perhaps not stormed out on him. 

"Psst!" he heard a voice call out.

"Huh?" Josiah spun around, looking for the source of the voice.

"Down here!" it said again.

He looked down and saw a sewer grate below him. He tilted his head curiously.

"Come here," the voice said once more.

Josiah, thinking he had nothing else to lose, shrugged and turned into his basic form, traveling through the grate. Through the pipes he went, popping out in an open area. In front of him stood eight people.

"Welcome, Josiah," said a male. "We have been waiting for you."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here it is. I think the only real reason I'm on this site now is that one of my friends said she'd read it it if were on Ao3, so here it is. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, I plan on updating every two weeks, just know that this is a flexible plan though. And wow, this is far better than the original work in my opinion. It really showed that it was written in 30 minutes, whereas this took a couple weeks to do, so I certainly like it more. Stay tuned, and please, if you have some constructive criticism, do let me know in the reviews. Or if you enjoyed, or hell, even if you didn't, let me know. I'll take any at this point.


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